Justice for Tara

A Charlotte County jury deliberated just under one hour and came back with a guilty as charged verdict in the State vs. David McMannis. McMannis was found guilty of one count of First Degree Murder and was immediately sentenced to life in prison by the Honorable Judge Mark Steinbeck. This follows a nearly six week trial.

The defendant killed 19-year-old Tara Sidarovich on October 1, 2001 in her Punta Gorda home. Tara was at her home waiting for septic repair when McMannis and co-defendant Phillip Barr came to the home and killed the teenager. Tara’s remains were found in mid-2002 in a wooded area of Charlotte County.

Many years of hard work went into this case to bring justice for Tara. Ultimately McMannis and Barr were indicted by a Grand Jury in 2012 for First Degree Murder.

Assistant State Attorney Dan Feinberg of our Homicide Unit, Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Garczewski and Assistant State Attorney Scott Patterson handled the case. We want to thank them for their dedication to this case as well as the many members of the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office who worked on this case from the beginning. We would also like to thank the many other law enforcement agencies who helped support the prosecution of these defendants.